Kids in Australia are about to lose social media access
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What new law in Australia affects children's access to social media?
Under-16s in Australia are about to lose access to social media. Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. I'm William Lee Adams. Good morning. A new law comes into force in Australia today, banning young teenagers from some of their favorite social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. And as you'd expect, there's been mixed reactions on the looming ban from teens.
My life would be impacted significantly as I do use it every day and it is definitely my number one source of communication like Snapchat and stuff. Well, I think it'll have a pretty good impact. Get me off my screen a bit, which is actually really good.
It's being touted as world first legislation. Under the new rules, if companies fail to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from opening accounts, they could be fined up to US$33 million. The BBC's Katie Watson reports from Sydney.
How are teenagers reacting to the social media ban in Australia?
In Australia, Tuesday is almost over, supposedly the last day of digital freedom for the country's young teens. The new rules mean no more Snapchat or TikTok videos or liking of photos. Some of the most popular social media platforms will be off-limits for under-16s. People here are calling it a ban. The government prefers to use the word delay, giving youngsters more time to grow up before being let loose on social media. Whatever the term, the majority of teens are not happy about it. Plenty of parents, on the other hand, see this as a show of support by the government standing up to the big US tech companies who've been criticised for not doing enough in recent years to prevent online harm. Ministers say it's a treatment plan, not a cure.
The rollout might be messy. It's certainly a novel experiment. The world will be watching to see if it works.
Okay, let's do the numbers. Germany's exports rose 0.1% in October, a bump in shipments to EU countries helped offset a drop in exports to the US. Meanwhile, in Taiwan, monthly imports hit a record high of nearly $48 billion due to demands within the AI supply chain. South Korean police have raided the headquarters of the country's most popular e-commerce platform, Coupang, which recently suffered a data leak affecting two-thirds of the country's population. In Seoul, here's the BBC's Jake Kwon.
Coupang had said it's sorry, but the police probe is just starting. Officers have launched a search and seizure operation to grab evidence from Kupang's main office in Seoul. The authorities are looking into how the hacker stole the data of 33.7 million customers, including names, home addresses, order history, and for some people, their door codes. The company says credit card and password data are safe, but that's provided little comfort. Coupang is already facing class action lawsuits from customers who are asking how a company valued at $50 billion could lose their data.
Jake Kwan. Now to Sudan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, have said they have seized control of the Northeast African country's largest oil field and refinery, cutting off a key source of government revenue. The oil field is situated on the border with South Sudan and is also the main processing hub for the country's vital oil exports. The BBC's Richard Kagoe has the details.
This is quite significant because the RSF has stepped up attacks in this South Kordofan region, which is towards the southern border with South Sudan. and for them they have been targeting various areas within this region because they are rich in oil and also in gold. So this is a major setback for the government and the government which is basically the Sudanese army has been quite reliant on this facility as a major source Richard Kagoe.
What penalties do companies face for violating the new social media law?
The U.S. chipmaker NVIDIA has been authorized to sell advanced AI chips to China in a major reversal of Washington's national security policy. President Trump said the U.S. government would take a 25% cut of sales. Let's speak to the BBC's Nick Marsh. Hi, Nick.
Hello, William.
So I imagine this is welcome news for Beijing.
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